Judges
by Enth V
Summary: When the Demon and her human host reduced the World to nothingness, the Nothingness struck back. Now Sans, Judge of the Underground, has to adapt to a world without the Fallen Human and live up to the legacy of his father.
1. Prologue: Anomaly

**Undertale belongs to Toby Fox.**

 **Red (Mentioned) belongs to Taxiderby.**

* * *

The air was electric with magic energy. Dust of both natural and murderous origin was kicked up as the Royal Captain Undyne slid back. A second slash had cut through her chest, forming an X with the previous wound. Still, the Undying stayed true to her namesake.

Her foe stepped forward, a nigh identical image to the timeline before. The eighth fallen human approached, hands coated in dust, eyes crimson red. Only this timeline, she was hunched forward, panting for breath. It had been many timelines now since she had defeated every monster in the Underground without as little as a scratch. Undyne's attack patterns, both in her normal mode and her Undying self, had been memorized by the eighth a long time ago. Yet why was it so difficult now?

Undyne roared in rage, spit diluted DETERMINATION leaking from her lip. In an effort of pure will power, she conjured a wave of magic spears and sent them to meet the human. In an equally impressive show of skill and DETERMINATION, the human dodged every spear and closed the gap. She struck.

The thud of falling metal filled Waterfall.

Undyne fell on one knee, bleeding from her wounds. She let go of her spear, which clattered to the ground. The Royal Captain wrapped an arm around her wounds in a futile attempt to stop the liquid DETERMINATION from leaking out. She shut her eyes in an attempt to lock out the pain. It didn't work.

"Damn it…"

The human backed up a step, as if to admire the fruits of her labor. After what she was sure was a far longer battle, the Undying was dying. The Royal Captain grimaced in pain, disbelief, and shame.

"So even THAT power…" Undyne sighed, "It wasn't enough?"

The human said nothing, accustomed to the words of surrender.

But then Undyne grinned.

"Heh.. that look on your face," Undyne's eyes opened, both red with DETERMINATION, "I gave you a harder time, huh?"

The human's expression shifted to one of… fear?

"Heheheh… so that's it." Undyne's eyes shifted to normal. "That's your power. Well, I guess you know that Alphys has evacuated everyone by now, and that Asgore will have the six souls now… and against that power…"

Undyne started to melt, but she laughed it off.

"Thanks to me… to my sacrifice… this world will live on!"

As the Undying met her final fate, the human felt two emotions for the first time in a lifetime. The thrill of mystery and the crawling dread of something being wrong.

* * *

"had a hell of a ride, huh?"

Sunlight glowed through the windows of Judgement Hall as it did in many other timelines long past. Sans the Skeleton stood guard, casual smile a façade for the unfathomable rage of a thousand lifetimes. The fallen human stepped forward, a golden heart locket around her neck and steel knife corroded by DETERMINATION in hand.

"different dialogue, the little red miss, I know you don't see her every timeline," Sans listed, "an increased DETERMINATION output from undyne, more new dialogue, the flower missing, and who can forget the last broadcast?"

The human grimaced. She hadn't expected Mettaton to put up a fight, not when every previous Genocide timeline the robot was slain in a single strike. It seemed that between the past few timelines the NEO program had been outfitted with far better propulsion systems, not to mention an energy shield. If those things changed, what more had?

"of course, that wasn't the end of it," Sans said, "judging from how you're all out of items, it's safe to say you were quick and got to alphys, too."

The human tightened her grip on her knife.

"calm down there, she doesn't know anything. as far as she knows, i just had an eerily similar dream than she. maybe i should've told her, maybe then we could've stopped this. oh well…"

His left eye flashed to life, the cyan magic filled with rage.

"let's get this over with."

* * *

To the fallen human's relief, Sans' fight was not that different. Save for his final gravity beat down reaching decimal hitpoints and him not sleeping, rather giving up and letting the human kill him, nothing was out of order. Yet that surrender was unexpected. Sans had always been the last challenge. Unless…

The fallen human stepped into the throne room. To her surprise, Asgore was not there. Fear filled her heart.

 _No… why him?_

 _ **Who else would it be?**_

The fallen human continued, locket red with DETERMINATION and knife black with HATE.

As predicted, the monster king was at the barrier, and as predicted, the jars of the human souls were gathered. Asgore's back was turned to her, but the fallen human knew that Asgore was ready to fight. The fact that his trident was already out was enough indication for that. But then the question came. Why did he wait?

"So… you have arrived."

Asgore turned around to face the fallen human.

"As much as I would like to just talk over a cup of tea, that will not happen."

The human faced Asgore, staring into his eyes. They were filled with… regret? This reaction was expected from a pacifist timeline, but now? How could he feel remorse for intending to kill them?

"Chara," Asgore said, "Why did you do this?"

The human flinched. He knew. He knew it was her. Her breathing quickened.

"I know you were a… troubled child," Asgore said, voice gentle, "But committing this mass genocide? Why would you go that far?"

The human turned away. A heavy footstep filled the barrier room, and the human was back on alert. She stared at Asgore with a barely controlled fury. The first human pointed her knife at Asgore.

"You have no right to judge me," she growled with two voices, "You're a murderer too!"

She slashed at Asgore.

Green vines blocked the attack.

"What?!"

The human tightened her stance. Her eyes instantly went to the floor. Sure enough, a familiar flower poked its head out of the ground.

"Howdy Chara!" Flowey greeted, "I see you've been busy."

"You!" the human seethed, "Asriel, you traitor!"

"Yeah, yeah I'm a traitor, boo hoo hoo," Flowey teased, "I know. I know that I'm fighting you right now because I made that choice."

Friendliness Pellets filled the air as Flowey's tone and expression grew dark.

"I made that choice because at the end of the day, you don't care about me," Asriel said, "I'm no longer your 'best friend.' No, that honor now belongs to the eighth kid that fell down here. Now the rest of us don't matter, you'll just throw us to the dust."

Flowey's expression grew mischievous. Behind him, Asgore stepped forward. The six human souls burst out of their jars and hovered around the two Dreemurrs.

"Looks like you been having a lot of fun," Flowey said, "But it seems you've forgotten the rule of… our world…"

Asriel's expression grew to his classic demonic face.

 **"It's still kill or be killed."**

Asgore absorbed the human souls. A blinding light filled the Barrier room and a loud bang sent the human flying back. Through the ringing of her ears and the white light, she could still hear Flowey's final curse.

"And it's time **you** found yourself on the other side of that saying."

The light faded. The eighth human blinked to clear her vision. When it cleared, she was greeted with the sight of a new foe. She was barely aware of the FIGHT being engaged. Fueled by curiosity she instantly went straight for the ACT button, selecting CHECK.

* KING ASGORE ATK 999 DEF 999

* The King Of All Monsters

 *** Just another killer…**

* FLOWEY THE FLOWER ATK 19 DEF 4

* Asriel Dreemurr reborn

 *** Traitor to the cause.**

The fallen human growled in rage. With those stats, she knew it would've been smarter to attack from the get go. The Dreemurrs wanted to FIGHT. They would get what they wanted in time. For now, they had to get through their turn…

Asgore called upon the power of the blue and orange soul, bringing his trident to bear. Imbued with the soul's strength, he struck at the fallen human. With expert skill and swiftness, the human dodged the attacks. Not expecting the longer attack phase, the human didn't see the inferno coming for her. After suffering a strike dealing twenty hit points, the human went back on alert.

She thought she was out of the phase when suddenly she was surrounded by Friendliness Pellets. Flowey cackled in delight as they struck at the same time, dealing the human for an inescapable nineteen ATK.

The human hissed in both pain and rage. Finally, the monsters' turn was over. It was time for payback, but who to attack? The flower was annoying pest that could likely be eliminated in a single strike, but the bigger threat was Asgore…

The fallen human gave a deranged laugh as she swiped horizontally at her foes, aiming to hit them both. Asgore stepped forward, meaning to take the brunt of the attack. Despite the high damage output of 999999, Asgore still stood, hurt badly, but still standing. The flower on the other hand…

The damned weed disappeared into the ground.

Asriel popped back up, sticking his tongue out and winking.

"The smiley trashbag isn't the only one with tricks."

Asgore approached, an apocalypse's worth of fireballs hovering in place over him. He chuckled through a grim face filled with vengeful righteousness.

"Now, son, do not disrespect the dead," the King said. The fireballs glowed brighter, now flickering between the colors of the rainbow.

"It is their sacrifice that gives us a fighting chance now."

The fireballs descended. Whilst the human dodged the fireballs easily enough, the magic fields that were left in their wake struck the human for a damage effect akin to Sans' KR. Flowey summoned more friendliness pellets, one volley of blue and another of orange. The pellets fired within milliseconds of each other, and the human was reduced to forty-nine HP.

The human backed away, selecting the ITEM button. She took out a legendary hero, but before she could eat it a friendliness pellet struck it out of her hand. Flowey shook one of his side leafs in the same manner as a parent would wag a finger at a naughty child. The human noticed that her turn had yet to pass. She deselected ITEM and dashed forward, knife raised. She skipped past Flowey and went to stab Asgore with her knife. Imbuing his trident with the power of the Green Soul, Asgore blocked the attack.

The trident was reduced to shards of crystal.

The sound of a soul breaking filled the room.

Asgore raised a hand to block his face from the Green Soul's final explosion. When it cleared, the human was unscathed. Flowey and he on the other hand were affected, albeit not with negative consequences. Rather Flowey had been covered in a green protective barrier and Asgore healed of his last attack.

"Dad!" Flowey called, "I'll take the front. Fireballs, now!"

The monster king nodded. From what he heard, Asriel didn't have a soul right now, so how his son was showing desperate emotion he didn't even know. But he knew what did matter; finishing the fight.

Green vines sprouted out of the ground and lashed out to strike the human. The human growled as she was forced to duck and weave through the storm of vines. She reached Flowey and struck, but the flower dodged, ducking into the ground. She looked around for the plant, but found only Asgore's fireballs descending.

The human dodged most of the balls, but one struck her dead on. Ten hitpoints left. She still could not find Flowey, so she turned to Asgore with murderous intent. The monster king's eyes widened.

"Chara," he whispered in horror, "Don't do this!"

He summoned another volley of fireballs, but the human dodged them with ease, giggling all the while. She closed the distance with inhuman speed and raised her knife. Asgore knew he wouldn't be able to take direct hit.

So someone else did for him.

Flowey popped out of the ground and took the blow. The green barrier shattered, sending Asgore back a few feet. But the knife still kept going. It cut the flower down the middle, leaving a large gash. It was a surprise it was even still sentient. With all the DETERMINATION left in him, Asriel turned to his father.

"Dad," Asriel weakly said, "Don't let them win the game."

Another knife strike came, infused with black HATE.

Flowey was gone in an instant.

The human giggled, "So, your grace, shall we continue?"

Asgore's expression darkened. The human souls appeared individually, all glowing brightly. The last monster glared at the fallen human with more hatred than he had ever known. He summoned a massive fireball in both of his hands and pointed them to the human. With a mighty roar, Asgore let his full power loose in a streak of rainbow fire so powerful its heat cracked the room's floor and the Barrier itself.

The blast engulfed the human, burnt past her, and smouldered rock. The burst of flame continued to engulf the throne room and Judgement Hall, then continuing down to New Home. The whole Underground was set a flame.

But the human still refused to die.

With a manic cackle, the human, now glowing red with DETERMINATION, strode forward to Asgore. Seeing this, the King Of All Monsters yelled once more. Behind him, the Barrier shattered. If anyone were around to see it, the king's fire blast had reached the Ruins. The CORE was suffering major system failure, and would likely send the whole Underground into oblivion. Assuming someone wasn't going to do it first.

The fallen human raised her knife, pure black with all the HATE she had. Asgore put more effort into her blast, but it wasn't enough. With a final cackle, the human struck down with her knife. Asgore's armor failed him, his health bar was instantly eliminated, and the remaining souls all shattered. Asgore should've felt a pain unlike anything he ever had, but he didn't.

Once again, the world was reduced to nothingness.

* * *

 **AN: Here we go.**

 **This is going to be the first of four expository chapters, so forgive me for my slow build up.**

 **Also, expect long intervals between chapters. I'm not the fastest writer, and only write when I have a decent amount of free time on my hands.**

 **Until then, Enth signing out.**

 **(EDIT: Frisk is actually the** **eighth fallen human.)**


	2. Darker Yet Darker

There was darkness as far as the eye could see. It was a cold, empty void. Nothing existed, at least, not anymore. What was once a thriving world had been put to death. Hopes and dreams reduced to dust and echoes…

"You are a great partner, Frisk."

The eighth fallen human looked up at her partner, surprised. It was the first timeline she had ever called her by name. They had been 'partners' for a long, long time, though not always willingly. After Frisk's first Genocide Run, the eighth human had rejected the first's calling. But after the following Pacifist Run had been taken away from her by way of RESET, and the numerous Neutral Runs after that, Frisk soon saw the futility of her pacifism.

The first human smiled. She squat down to face Frisk, an empty hand cupping her face. Frisk was on her knees, and looked down in shame, dejected. The first human frowned in response.

"You still want to go back?"

Frisk looked up, looking at the first human in the eye.

"There's nothing for me to go back to," Frisk said, a mix of shame and spite in her voice, "You took care of that, Chara."

The first fallen human laughed at the accusation.

"Oh, Frisk, you know that wasn't all me," Chara replied, "Besides…"

Her eyes darkened into black pools from which tar-like tears dripped.

 **"You made your choice a long time ago."**

Frisk looked down again in acceptance of her sins. Chara's giggles filled the void as her face returned to a more human picture. Chara's dark pools were replaced with chocolate brown eyes, a hue of red overlaying them as a sign of her abnormal amount of DETERMINATION. She stepped away, playfully waving at Frisk with her knife.

"Don't be like that Frisk, we all make mistakes," Chara said, "But I forgive you, friend. Now, I love ending this world, don't get me wrong. But seeing as to how something wasn't right last timeline, I would really like to get a move o-"

"Would he have forgiven me?"

"What?"

Frisk glared at Chara with an unexpected fury.

"Would Sans have forgiven me?"

Frisk half expected to be killed by Chara again for her actions. The first time, when she refused to ERASE the world, wasn't pleasant, but at this point Frisk only felt a cold nothingness. She welcomed death, but sadly it would not be granted to her. Chara only sighed and brought up the RESET button. Her eyes turned to a deeper crimson.

"Well, why don't you ask him?" she asked.

Frisk gave a reluctant nod, and rose from the ground. The closer she got to Chara, the first fallen human grinned. The RESET button glowed a vibrant yellow, beckoning for Frisk to come forward. Frisk reached to select the button.

It suddenly flickered.

Frisk flinched at the unusual behavior. She backed away, watching as the button disappear and reappear in a manner of seconds like a broken lightbulb. She heard Chara behind her gasp in shock.

"What did you do?!" she questioned in barely controlled rage.

"I don't know!"

Chara took initiative and stepped forward and reached to touch the RESET button. She didn't make it in time. The button darkened, like someone put a black filter over it. Then, from the edges, the button seemed to be consumed by… darkness. The button was replaced by a darkness which grew darker, yet darker.

Now Chara backed away from the RESET button, a shiver running down her spine. Looking back to Frisk, it was obvious she had felt the same sensation. The first human offered the eighth a hand.

"We'll be together forever," Chara said, "Won't we?"

Frisk nodded, taking the hand. Chara noted that the eighth human wasn't completely agreeing out of loyalty, rather agreeing due to a lack of will to change. She'd deal with that later.

 _First things first…_

With the flick of her wrist, Chara brought out her knife. It was a construct of pure DETERMINATION, the original knife being used by Frisk. The eighth human followed behind, holding the weapon with skills inherited from Chara.

"Who's there?!" the first human yelled out in challenge.

But nobody came.

Chara growled in impatience. Construct glowing, Chara swiped down, striking at the nothingness. The strike left a red trail before fading into the nothingness. It seemed nothing was there, for the strike had no effect. Still, Chara was not convinced. She stepped forward.

A sound akin to the pitter-patter of rain, only heavier, rang across the void. Chara was instantly on the alert, watching the darkness. She looked left, then right, then she checked on Frisk. Finding nothing, she turned around again and continued to press forward.

The first step she made resulted in the sound again. Puzzled, Chara looked around again, this time remembering to look down. There it was. Chara found that she had stepped into a puddle of sorts. A black goo. But what was it?

Chara reached to touch it, but it shifted. It moved, like it had its own mind. Behind her, Frisk felt a familiar sense of alien dread; this black goo reminded her of the Amalgamates. Her mind wandered to the DETERMINATION-infused monsters. Could they have survived in the void? Either way, it seemed that something did.

The goo flowed away from the humans. Chara checked the sides of her vision, finding more trails of the goo flowing to a central nexus. The goo combined, shifted, then took form. It grew thin and tall, a few inches taller than the late King Asgore, Chara reckoned. The form solidified, the darkness turning into a crisp black coat. Looking up, Chara found that a head had formed. The goo there turned white, then solidified too. It formed a familiar face that instilled fear into Chara and dreadful anxiety into Frisk.

The newcomer was a skeleton, or at least was; Frisk was pretty sure skeleton monsters couldn't dissolve and reform into a liquid state. The skeleton stood with a formal, professional posture, completely different to the cheerful childlike flow of Papyrus and the lazy hunch of Sans.

The skeleton had a scar on the right side of his face, from the top of his head leading down and flowing into the right eye. On the left side, his left eye also had a scar, trailing down to the skeleton's lip like a tear.

The amalgamate skeleton raised a hand, as if in greeting to Chara. The hand had a clean hole through it, perfectly circular with magic energy within the hole.

"Greetings, Chara," The skeleton said. The skeleton's tone was amiable enough, but hinted at a secret malign intent. Sure enough, a FIGHT was initiated. "Don't you know how to greet an old friend?"

"You…" Chara's voice slightly shook with fear, "This shouldn't be possible! You should be dead!"

"I could say the same about you," the skeleton replied, "After all, my son did give you a.. what were the words… bad time?"

Chara swiped at the skeleton with her knife. The skeleton disappeared in what Frisk only could describe as glitch. She had seen it before, with Sans' constant dodging. Instinctively she turned around, finding the skeleton behind her and Chara.

"Damn you!" Chara cursed, "Sit still and die!"

Chara attacked again, and again the skeleton dodged, this time by stepping to the side. With little a care, the skeleton used blue magic and backhanded Chara away. Frisk took the time to ACT, selecting CHECK.

* ? ? ? ATK - DEF -

* The Man Who Speaks In Hands.

* The Previous Royal Scientist.

 *** Here to finish what his son started.**

The words elicited a memory from Frisk. A distant Pacifist Timeline that lasted a bit longer than the last. The first, in fact. Back then, Sans was Frisk's best friend, the only one she could relate to. The feeling was mutual, so much so that Sans had trusted a name to her.

"have you heard of a 'Wing Ding Gaster' before?" he had asked. The human had shaken her head in reply. Sans had sighed.

"didn't think so. my old man isn't exactly… around."

Sans had dropped the topic then, so Frisk decided to ask other sources. Papyrus only gave a confused "Nyeh?", Undyne commented by saying the name sounded stupid and both Toriel and Asgore said they didn't know, but that the name was oddly familiar. But finally the eighth fallen human found luck in her old friend Dr. Alphys, who had given her notes. Blueprints, in particular; blueprints for the CORE, and other scientific experiments. That was where the trail ended.

Until now.

Frisk gulped in anxiousness. It made sense that Gaster knew how to use shortcuts; Sans had to have learnt it from somewhere, right? If Gaster somehow survived the destruction of the world, then something was definitely wrong. Then there was Chara's comment.

 _How does a dead man come back to life?_ She thought.

 _Maybe he was never really dead?_

A sudden pain in her leg brought Frisk back to the present. A white spike which felt like bone had pierced it, dealing major damage. Frisk had fallen to the ground, quite luckily so, dodging the dark spikes aimed to her upper body. She whimpered in pain as she looked at the wound Gaster had no doubt given her. The outlines were glowing pink with Karmic Retribution.

"Human."

Frisk looked up, finding Gaster looming over her.

"Do you know what you did?" Gaster asked, "You killed my friends. You killed my people. You killed my sons. And for that… well, 'bad' doesn't even begin to describe the time you'll be having."

Gaster's left eye burst to life, a violent purple flare of rage. He raised a holed hand, which had a more controlled purple magic orb in its hole.

"No!" Chara screamed.

She dashed forward, knife in hand. She slashed at Gaster, who glitched out of the way. Chara looked around for Gaster, and when she found she was safe, turned and helped Frisk up. After her friend was back up, Chara's attention was grabbed by a charging hum.

Gaster stood a few meters away. His left eye was a purple blaze, his right eye a calm, controlled orb of white. The skeleton gave a subtle smile as behind him a fleet of his trademark weapons hovered, maws opened. The Gaster Blasters were innumerous; there was no way they could dodge them all.

Gaster raised a hand. Within the hand's hole was a violent blaze of purple energy. From the crack in his right eye flickers of blackness came out. The ex-scientist's grin turned manic.

"Let's begin," the Man Who Speaks in Hands said.

Gaster snapped his fingers. The blasters fired.

The sound of two souls shattering filled the void.

Followed by the sound of two souls forming back together, refusing to die.

With a gasp, Frisk woke up. The human's eyes were greeted with the darkness of the void again. She attempted to get up, but quickly found herself in the air. She was slammed against the floor, taking off hitpoints straight of the respawn. She looked up, finding Gaster looming over her.

"You're very determined," the Man Who Speaks In Hands said, "Aren't you?"

The skeleton glitched again, dodging the incoming Chara. The fallen human growled at her miss then turned to her partner again. She helped her up, eyes searching the void for Gaster the whole time.

"We need a strategy," Chara said.

"What can we do?" Frisk asked, "He's far better than Sans' and will kill us before we can get to him. Even if we do get to him he'll blink away!"

Gaster finally appeared. A manic grin was on his face and to his sides were two massive hand constructs. Eyes purple with rage, the skeleton pointed a hand at the humans. The hand constructs followed.

"Distract him," Chara whispered, "I'll take him out."

Before Frisk could respond, Chara dashed forward.

With a slash, she struck one of the hands. It disappeared in a cloud of dust. The other hand came to grab Chara before being met with the same fate from Frisk. Far away, Gaster watched with curiosity. His left eye flashed again, and this time Gaster Blasters appeared. Frisk gulped, but dashed forward all the same. The Blasters were attracted to Frisk, growling with intent.

The magic beams that followed trailed behind Frisk, the human barely ahead of them. Frisk turned to look at her progress, and tripped on bones she didn't notice. The human was quick to recover, rolling to keep her momentum and making a steep right to throw off the Blaster's trail.

Gaster watched, impressed. A smart move on the human's part. A minor setback, everything was still under control. The skeleton heard a psychopathic giggle behind him, and turned to meet Chara. The Demon that comes when people call its name waited for Gaster to turn to her completely before slashing down. The power to destroy the world came down on Gaster through a knife's edge.

The knife cut through Gaster like water.

But like water, the strike was filled in, like it never happened.

Gaster took no damage and tilted his head in feigned curiosity. Chara looked up at Gaster's amused face with an expression of fear. The reaction was priceless, and Gaster was glad to have seen it. Gaster's smile widened.

"Foolish girl," he said, "I don't even exist."

Gaster raised a hand, and a massive Gaster Blaster appeared. It had longer horns, sharper fangs, purple Wingding glyphs, and beastly violet eyes. The Master Blaster's maw was filled with purple magic, only where most magic was akin to light, the Master Blaster's charging laser had a black core, akin to a black hole.

The Blaster fired, feeding Chara more pain then she had ever known. Her vision darkened, and she distinctly remembered hitting the floor, but all she knew for certain was pain. It felt like she was burned by the power of a thousands suns going supernova. But then it faded. She figured she had a single hitpoint left at most. Her vision cleared, and she noticed the Master Blaster looming over her. Behind it, W.D. Gaster smiled.

"Now, you don't either."

The Blaster descended, fangs bared. Chara screamed as the bones pierced her chest. The two fangs brought more pain then any of Undyne's spears or Sans' bones. Then she felt weak, weaker, yet weaker…

Frisk watched in horror as the Master Blaster drained Chara of her DETERMINATION. The first fallen human grew pale, then translucent. Frisk dashed forward, but bony fingers grabbed her. She squirmed as she realized that she was trapped within one of Gaster's hand constructs. The massive hand did not budge, instead glowing blue.

The Blaster let Chara's body go, the ghostly image that was left of it falling to the floor. The Blaster turned to face Frisk. The Master Blaster glowed red now, Chara's DETERMINATION powering it. The red faded into the Master Blaster's jaws, a beam of pure DETERMINATION charging up.

Frisk jerked to the right, pulling her knife-wielding arm out of the hand construct's tight grip. She quickly stabbed it, and it faded into dust. Frisk fell to the ground with roll. She stood, only to find herself surrounded by Gaster Blasters. Her hopes crushed, Frisk fell to her knees, tears forming at her eyes.

Gaster stepped forward, two new hand constructs at his side, the Master Blaster following him closely. He looked to the constructs and motioned at them as if they were slaves. The hands approached Frisk and dropped a mirage before her. Chara's ghostly image lay there. The Demon that comes when people call its name was a faint outline of faded red.

"So this is the end," Gaster said, "Vengeance is done, the demon fallen. Now all that remains is to finish the job…"

"Wait! Please!" Frisk begged.

Gaster closed his eyes in amusement, "Foolish girl. You should know by know that you aren't above consequences."

The eyes opened. They were black, empty pits.

 **"Nothing is."**

The Master Blaster fired, and in its wake was a broken red soul and a dead human. Blood and DETERMINATION covered the floor, though it was hard to tell the difference. With a finger snap, the Blaster faded away.

Gaster sighed. In another lifetime, he and the human might've been friends. Once upon a time, he could've considered Chara a friend too. But no more. Gaster scooped Frisk's body with his hand construct and walked off into the Void, his battle over.


	3. CONTINUE

**Undertale belongs to Toby Fox**

* * *

"…mh? You're not back yet?"

 _Leave me alone._

"Why?"

 _Just let me stay dead._

"You don't want to come back?"

 **"Well I wasn't asking for permission."**

Gaster's hand construct pulsed with determination, and Frisk gasped, awake. Her breathing quickened in fear as she realized she had been brought back against her will. Blood and DETERMINATION flowed through her body once more. She was alive again.

Gaster's hand construct glowed red with the skeleton's own DETERMINATION. The Man Who Speaks in Hands stepped into view, his white-purple eyes cold and judging. It seemed there was only one possible reason Frisk had been spared…

"Please, no…" the human begged. If she had the determination to summon her MERCY button, she would. But her crime of genocide had consequences, and now she would pay the price.

Gaster's construct glowed brighter in response. Frisk squirmed in Gaster's hand. In fear, she closed her eyes, refusing to witness the end.

 _It will be all over soon,_ she thought _, just a short pain… not the first time.. but the last…_

Frisk felt herself suddenly hit the floor. Not nearly enough to do any sort of damage, just a surprising jolt. She was still alive.

 _What?_

Slowly opening her eyes, Frisk saw Gaster looking at her not with burning purple suns, but calm white lights. In his hand was a familiar button: MERCY.

"You have shown remorse for your crimes," Gaster said, "Your punishment will be less severe."

Frisk, still not trusting, shuffled away. Gaster sighed, closing his eyes. They opened again, cyan in shade. The eighth human flinched at the familiar eyes and the feeling of blue magic.

"Sit."

Frisk's body obeyed, and to the girl's surprise felt a hard medium to lean on. Glancing behind her, she found a hand construct, posed in a way that the fingers formed a backrest, and the thumb an armrest.

Turning back to Gaster, she found that the previous Royal Scientist took his seat in the mouth of the summoned Master Blaster. The beastly skull's jaw was somehow set at an obtuse angle, giving Gaster space to lean comfortably. At least, for him; Frisk wouldn't lean back and relax in the jaw of a weapon like that.

"Is that comfortable?" Frisk asked anxiously, "I mean, the blaster has sharp teeth… and it's a weapon…"

"A weapon that I a) created and b) is under my command," Gaster said. He chuckled, closing his eyes, "Besides, I don't even exist. If Chara couldn't kill me, my own creation wouldn't either."

His eyes opened, revealing dark empty pits.

"Your false compassion will get you nowhere, by the way."

Frisk flinched again. Gaster's eye lights reformed, a cheeky smirk on his face.

"Tell me child, do you know who I am?"

Frisk gulped, then answered, "You are Wing Ding Gaster, the previous Royal Scientist. You created the Core."

Gaster nodded, but motioned for Frisk to continue. Frisk figured he wanted her to bring up a specific detail.

"You're the father of Sans and Papyrus. You're the original owner of Sans' secret lab, and he and Dr. Alphys worked with you."

No reaction, continue.

"You experimented with human souls and their properties on time."

No reaction, continue.

"You were in an accident. You found a way to create determination, but it was unstable. You were erased from existence."

To Frisk's surprise, no reaction came again.

"Wh-what? Nothing? That's all I know!" she exclaimed.

"Hmm, it seems so," Gaster replied, all the professionalism of his past life showing in his voice, "If it makes you feel any better, all of what you have said are correct."

Frisk huffed in annoyance.

"Alright, lets change the question," Gaster said, "What do you know about my eldest son?"

"Excluding Asriel, he's the only monster with knowledge of timelines," Frisk said, "Excluding his single hit point, he's the strongest monster in the world."

"His occupation?"

"… Sentry?"

It was Gaster's turn to huff in annoyance.

"I would've thought someone with the power over timelines would know what Sans and I share excluding our heritage," he grumbled.

"… your blasters?"

Gaster's eyes went black. Frisk felt her makeshift chair disappear and hit the ground. It didn't do damage, but still did a spiteful amount of pain.

"Fool…" Gaster said, "You are a dense fool. Much like Asgore, now that I think about it. Anyways, do you know the name of the hall in which you two fought in?"

That Frisk knew," Judgement Hall." She connected the dots. "Sans is a judge?"

" _The_ Judge," Gaster corrected, "A secret position of power in monster society. It is his job to keep note of everyone and anyone in the Underground's Level of Violence, and respond accordingly. I must say, my son has done a poor job."

"You did better in your time?" Frisk asked hesitantly.

Gaster chuckled, his eyes darkening again.

"If I was still Judge, you would've never made it past LV 10."

Frisk wished she kept her mouth shut.

"Alright, next question," Gaster said, "Do you know where we are?"

Frisk opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by Gaster. "Don't you dare say True Lab, or I swear I will ERASE you right now."

Frisk's eyes had widened in shock. She shook it off and answered, "The Void."

"Correct… you were going to say that the first time, right?"

"Yes." In the back of her mind, Frisk grumbled at the skeleton's underestimation of her intelligence.

"Do you know what the Void is?" Gaster asked.

"No," Frisk answered, "Other then our current location, no."

"Not surprising," Gaster said, "I don't know the full extent of this realm myself. But I know enough. Observe."

He looked away, eyes catching something new. Frisk followed his gaze finding… windows? That was the closest thing she could compare them to anyway. They were empty white panels, bright against the blackness of the Void. Gaster stood up and approached one. Frisk followed.

Once she reached Gaster, the man who spoke in hands touched the panel. It flashed, and the emptiness was replaced with… Sans? The image was of Gaster's son, peacefully napping at his station in Snowdin. Flickers of white at the corners of Frisk's sight caught her attention, and she found that the rest of the panels had activated, each with different images.

They were different events from her timeline traveling. Her first time tasting Toriel's pie in the Ruins, when she managed to get Alphys and Undyne together, her first time meeting Asriel Dreemurr…

The first time she slew Papyrus in cold blood…

Gaster sighed at the memory.

"That was the start," he said, "The point of no return, I believe."

Frisk said nothing, letting Gaster continue.

"He was so innocent. I can understand why Sans limited his knowledge of the 'real world'. Such purity is a rarity in the world. But teaching him not to use his eye… he would've survived at least a bit longer against the Demon. Between he, his brother, and the Prince they could've ended this a long time ago…"

"Papyrus has an eye?" Frisk suddenly asked, "Like yours and Sans'?"

"Yes, yes, but we're getting off topic," Gaster said.

"Now, these images allow me to observe timelines."

Gaster put a hand to the image. It suddenly changed, the cold white of Snowdin shifting to the warm yellows of Judgement Hall. Frisk watched as her old self engaged Sans in combat. Gaster continued.

"I can follow each scene, observe space and time. For one, I can verify that Alphys had escaped in the timelines you didn't kill her. She and the others made it to the Ruins before you ERASEd the world, and her in it."

The image disappeared. Gaster snapped his fingers, and a new image appeared, this time of a Pacifist timeline.

"I can also confirm that Asriel managed to stay in his monster form for exactly ten minutes following your departure from Mt. Ebott. In addition, if you had come for him later on, he would've been able to feel enough emotions to be… not a murderer at the very least."

Gaster turned to Frisk.

"The more DETERMINATION one has, the more he or she can do with these images, I've found." The ex-Royal Scientist explained, "I've slowly been able to piece myself together, my DETERMINATION growing. With this power, I've been able to use these images to predict future timelines. More recently, I've been able to affect the timeline itself."

The revelation dawned on Frisk. She looked at Gaster with wonder.

"Last timeline… that was you?" Frisk asked.

"Not just that. The Royal Scout, Red, should've never met you. She was my first experiment, that being adding a new variable to the timeline. I tried to add myself back to the timeline, as you may have seen at Waterfall."

Frisk nodded. Few timelines she and Chara had seen a mysterious door at Waterfall, which had never been there in any other timeline. When they ventured inside, the ghostly image of who Frisk now knew was Gaster stood. The ghost would look at the humans with a glare, and would attempt to approach. When he failed, Frisk and Chara decided to approach him instead. When touched, he vanished. Needless to say, it seemed Gaster's experiment had failed.

"When I failed, I changed my approach," Gaster continued, "I attempted to change already existing variables, in the form of Alphys' NEO form. I edited new scenarios for the Neutral and Pacifist runs, knowing you, a creature of curiosity, would pursue them instead of committing mass murder."

"But that didn't work," Frisk said.

"Indeed," Gaster replied, "Those distractions did nothing but temporarily stave of your addiction to murder. And when you returned to your… activities, I found myself unable to do anything. Anything but wait. I wanted to do more, but I found that even if I returned, I would be helpless against the power of the RESETs. Eventually, you would find a way to kill me, and eventually, you would."

"So I waited. I watched you kill my sons, their friends, my friends… I let you destroy the world again. I let you because I knew what would remain."

"The Void," Frisk answered.

"The Void," Gaster repeated, "I was the strongest monster in my time, but even then I would've fallen to you. I was a mere mortal. But here? Well, you heard me the first time; I don't even 'exist.' How can you kill that which doesn't exist?"

"You can't."

"Exactly," Gaster said, "It ended quicker than I predicted, something I am grateful for. Now, I can begin the final part of my plan. Then redemption will be yours. Will be ours."

Frisk's eyes were filled with hope at the word.

"Alright, what do I need to do?" she asked.

Gaster smiled. His eyes flashed red with DETERMINATION. Frisk felt herself gain confidence as well, and a familiar button appeared.

RESET.

"All you need to do is RESET," Gaster said, "So, shall we?"

Frisk didn't need to answer. With excitement she hadn't felt since her first Pacifist timeline, the eighth fallen human selected her power with joy. The button flashed yellow, faded, and the Void started to change.

Grass covered the darkness, and far above the black of nothingness was replaced with a beautiful day. The sound of birds singing filled the air as flowers bloomed. A beautiful day indeed. On days like these, redemption tasted even sweeter.

Frisk watched the scene around her with uncontained happiness. Tears of joy started to spring in her eyes as she fell on her knees, overwhelmed. She laughed, the realization of the end of her torment making her giddy. Her knife fell to the floor as her Level Of Violence dropped back to one. With an empty hand she wiped her face and looked to her savior.

Gaster just smiled. One could only appreciate the beauty of the scene. He looked to the sun and sighed in relief.

"Oh, how I had yearned to feel sunlight again," Gaster said, "The cause to bring monsterkind back to the surface was the start of my journey, and now it seems that the journey has ended."

Frisk stood up, a smile on her face, "Thank you, Gaster."

Gaster said nothing, only smiled.

The two stood together, admiring the scene, until Frisk noticed something. She watched as suddenly Gaster's image flickered.

"As much as I would like to stay here forever, I have duties to attend to," Gaster said. Noting the concerned expression on Frisk's face, he explained, "I have the DETERMINATION to stay here as long as I want to. But there is still much work to be done."

Gaster snapped his fingers, and suddenly a white door appeared. Reality was ripped at the seams. It opened on its own, revealing a darkness which grew darker, yet darker. A portal back to the Void.

"Your work here is done, Frisk," the Man Who Speaks in Hands said, "You may leave."

Frisk nodded then turned to walk way. Then she stopped. Caught up in the moment, it had taken the eighth fallen human until now to realize that she was on the Surface, not underground. Looking to the floor, she saw a hole. Looking down, she could barely make out the flowers of the Ruins at the bottom. She took a step forward, then hesitated.

She looked to Gaster, "I'm not welcome here anymore, am I?"

"Not for the foreseeable future, no," the Man Who Speaks in Hands admitted, "You may have repented, but you still are responsible for your sins. I cannot currently find it in myself to trust you in the Underground."

"One final change," Frisk sighed, "Well, no one is above consequences."

She turned around to walk away, back to the rest of human civilization. She glanced back at Gaster.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," she said.

"I know," Gaster replied, "But do not worry. I will keep an eye socket on you, and when you are ready, I will send you a message."

"Thanks," Frisk said, "Oh, and please extend to Sans my apologies."

"I will."

Frisk nodded, and turned away. The human would not be the eighth to fall down Mt. Ebott. Not in this timeline. Disappointed, but content with this ending, Frisk 'Dreemurr' left behind her past mistakes.

* * *

 **AN: Two chapters in one day ayyyyy**

 **Admittedly, I had written both a long time ago, and was just delaying. Decided why not? and released them both today. Now the next chapter might take a while, though.**

 **Also, I didn't do copyright stuff and AN in the previous chapter because I was (multitasking and unable to give my all).**

 **Please do give constructive criticism!**

 **Enth signing out.**


	4. The Test

**Undertale by Toby Fox**

 **Also, this chapter is based nearly completely on the Echo Animation by** **voidless, so check it out!**

* * *

He was falling.

A slow pace, yes, but the sense of vertigo was undeniable. He was falling The air around him was cold. It chilled him to the bones like ice cold water.

He couldn't take it anymore.

Sans opened his eyes with a gasp. His left eye was a bright cyan, still in shock. The skeleton's last memory was that of his murder. He felt at his chest, sighing in relief when he felt nothing wet. The blue in his eyes lightly faded, but still remained as he surveyed his… dark surroundings.

The darkness kept growing, going on and on to as far as Sans eyes could see. Bright white rectangles shone light, illuminating the Void. Sans found that he wasn't exactly falling; the Void images had stayed in place, despite the sense of vertigo that filled Sans' bones. But then the skeleton saw something else; the red of a familiar scarf.

"Papyrus!" Sans reached for Papyrus, activating his soul magic to propel him to his brother.

The skeleton grabbed his brother by the waist, an easy task from Papyrus' positioning: the reverse of falling back first. Securing his brother, Sans then saw a flash. Looking around, he saw that the images had changed.

They were images of him. Him through different timelines, no doubt. Some had him smiling, probably from a Pacifist timeline. More of them though featured his iconic magic eye, alive and filled with rage.

There were some he was sure weren't even him. The sudden appearances of a younger, angrier Toriel, lazy version of Papyrus, and the first fallen human in a hoodie were enough proof of that.

 _Different timelines,_ Sans thoughts, _no, different worlds? How?_

He got his answer in the form of two faded purple magic eyes staring down at him.

W.D. Gaster stood, eyes closed and a content smile on his face. In his hands was a familiar button: CONTINUE. The skeleton didn't move, or react in anyway, yet Sans heard his voice echo throughout the Void.

"Hello, son," Gaster said, "You seem… stressed out."

The Void flickered between darkness and blinding light. In between each flash, Gaster's face seemed to change. At first, a proud smile. Then concerned brow crease of an old father. Next, confusion born of an impossibility or anomaly; a face Sans had been accustomed to back in the days of his father's existence. Then, the psychopathic sneer of a serial killer, mouth wide and eyes flashing. As if that wasn't bad enough, the final flash was right in Sans' face; his father's lips in an insane grin radiating insanity, eyes crimson red with DETERMINATION. The skeleton flinched.

 **"Let me help you with that."**

The button in Gaster's holed hands glowed yellow as it was selected. From it, a blinding light akin to the sun formed. Sans could only raise his arm to block the view. When the light faded, Papyrus and Gaster were gone, leaving Sans in the Void, seemingly alone.

"Papyrus!" Sans called out. The timeline images flashed and changed scenes in response. It didn't help in the slightest; half the images didn't even have the younger skeleton brother on them, even less images featured the skeleton alive.

"Papyrus!" he called out again, "Where are you?!"

But nobody came.

Sans trembled. But not in fear. Was it… cold? Maybe too hot? His eye unconsciously came to life as he wandered the Void, desperately looking for Papyrus. His mind went at hyper speed, trying to comprehend his situation. For the umpteenth time the fallen human, Frisk, Chara, it didn't matter, had killed him. He had woken up, but not in Snowdin as was the case in a normal RESET. No, he was in the Void. He didn't know how or why, but he did know that his brother was there too. But maybe someone did…

It was impossible though. He had died, fallen into the Void! All memory of him wiped off existence save for his mind. He could've been hallucinating, or maybe…

"Gaster!" Sans called out. No response.

"Father!"

Nobody came…

 _Wait, what's this feeling…_

Suddenly, Sans felt a fire unlike anything he had felt. It was like… DETERMINATION. But he knew what it felt like to take DETERMINATION. He had felt it before, but this fire that threatened his whole being was so alien, so new, and so much worse.

The skeleton let out a guttural scream which was then muffled. Sans felt something akin to being choked by scalding water, despite not having a throat. His body felt like it was being ripped apart into atoms. Then…

Something formed from him.

A black goo seeped seemingly out of his bones, but Sans knew that it wasn't part of him. The goo turned white, then black again, before taking form into his father. Judging purple-red eyes glared down at cyan-yellow.

"You don't seem to understand the gravity of your position," Gaster commented, **"Am I wrong?"**

A holed hand pulsing with purple magic and DETERMINATION reached to take Sans' face. He watched in horror as it approached with purposeful grace. Purposeful for malign intent, no doubt.

 **"** Years in the Void have taught me little. **Perhaps we should exchange roles,"** Gaster said, **"I was the better judge…"**

"Get away from me!" Sans swatted the hand away, turned, and bolted.

Running as fast as he could, Sans didn't look back. He didn't want this life, to be trapped away, forced to watch as the world went on without him. Yet Gaster was determined. Something gripped Sans' ankle, and the skeleton could do nothing but be dragged into nothingness.

And so Sans fell once more. He was filled with a sudden weariness. He felt sluggish, too tired to continue. He felt his eyes yearn to close shut.

 **"Tired?"** Gaster's voice cut through Sans' consciousness like a knife.

 **"You failed them, you know,"** his father droned on, **"Let them be slaughtered by a foe they couldn't hope to defeat, or even understand."**

 **"Give in."**

An alien warmth filled Sans' skull. He felt the malign intent guiding it, but it just felt so inviting…

 **"Let me take your place."**

His skull suddenly throbbed in pain. Sans wanted to groan in pain, but couldn't summon the energy to do so. A tired whimper was all he gave.

 **"Give in."**

The heat increased. Now it was like a fire. Sans felt like his skull was melting. It was shifting, losing its form for something slimmer, smaller. He wanted to scream. He tried to. Tried and tried.

 **"Give in.**

 **"GIVE I-"**

"NO!"

Sans felt as though his soul had shattered, but he still lived. He glowed blue with magic, which then released itself and the foreign entity that hooked itself off Sans' existence.

"I…" Sans paused to take his breath, "I will not give in!"

Gaster reformed opposite him, a amused smile on his face.

"Oh? You refuse?" Gaster raised a holed hand. A swarm of black tipped bones appeared, snapped in half, leaving sharp points. **"** Well, my son... **get comfortable."**

The bones surged forward, faster than any Sans had used himself. The smaller skeleton barely dodged, sweating only minutes into the fight. A Gaster Blaster formed, eyes purple, in front of Sans. The small skeleton was forced to blink out of the way. He came out of his shortcut, dazed and in pain.

The small skeleton was on his knees, feeling the trickle of warm DETERMINATION leaking from his mouth. His frame burned again, his bones feeling like they were splitting. His left eye flickered weakly, barely comprehending the Void's state changing, flickering between black and white. He barely escaped storm of black bones coming for him.

The skeleton backed away, drained and in pain, panting. Gaster pressed forward, calm professional stance almost mocking Sans for his weakness. The Man Who Speaks in Hands grinned.

"You can't dodge forever," he taunted.

A whole bone whizzed past him in response. He tilted his head out of the way, dodging it with ease. Gaster looked to his son, false disappointment on his face.

"Come on, Sans," he said, **"I know you can do better than that."**

Sans shuddered in fear, the distorted, judging voice of his father shaking him from within. He channeled his fear into will and conjured a barrage of his own bones. With a yell of desperation born from fear, he sent the bones at his father. Gaster's smiled widened. He raised his arms in an invitation.

Like Chara's knife before them, the bones went clean through Gaster like he was liquid. They passed through him, not dealing him harm. Gaster gave a distorted shriek for laughter, before accelerating forward, his melted frame a blur.

Sans's eye-lights brightened with surprise. Both he and his father never engaged in close quarter combat. It was too risky given their delicate stature. They were both like humans in that sense, with massive damage outputs, capacities to kill, and low health bars.

But now his father didn't even exist. He couldn't hurt what didn't exist. But sometimes, what doesn't exist can hurt.

Sans conjured a wall of bones to defend himself. The wall of bone and blue magic did nothing to hinder Gaster, who's melted frame blasted through the wall, and straight into Sans. Gritting his teeth to get his mind of the pain, the smaller skeleton skidded across the floor. His eye-lights turned a hue blue as he utilized his soul effect to slow himself down.

Gaster approached, halfway between the states of liquid and solid. He looked at Sans with empty eye sockets, the menacing black more fear inducing then Sans' had ever been. Nonetheless, Sans looked back at Gaster with defiance. His left hand was engulfed in blue magic. Sans figured it was time to fight fire with fire.

With a blue fist, Sans jabbed at his father with surprising speed. With equally surprising swiftness, Gaster dodged, backing away from each punch. The sudden switch from solid to liquid was the only heads up Sans received, and it wasn't enough. A manic grin on his face, Gaster charged into Sans again.

Sans hit the ground hard. Pain filled his bones. He struggled to get up. A holed hand helped him on his way up.

"A shame," Gaster mocked, "You are my legacy… but you are **weak.** But it is of no matter. This ends no-"

Sans' vision was suddenly consumed in a flash of orange. Gaster's distorted shriek was deafening, leagues more painful then the feeling of his chin hitting the ground. When his vision cleared, Gaster wasn't there. The urge to sleep, coupled with the depressing feeling of failure, still was.

"SANS?"

The voice was familiar, and certainly woke Sans up. A gloved hand helped him up to one knee. Filled with hope once more, Sans' eyes looked up with eagerness he didn't feel; he was in disbelief.

"papyrus?"

At least, he was.

His brother was there. Clad in his battle body, still damaged from Chara's attack, Papyrus stood in front of him. His soul glowed proudly was displayed in front of him, still in perfect condition. Albeit faded; his body seemed translucent like a ghost's, like it wasn't there. Still, the image of Papyrus being there, alive and well, was enough to draw tears from his eye sockets.

"i saw you die…" the tears fell to the floor. Brotherly instincts took over as Papyrus put an arm around his brother.

"SANS… DON'T WORRY! I FORGIVE YOU!"

Tears still fell down.

"i let you die…"

"SANS!"

The elder skeleton brother looked up to meet his sibling's loving face. Or rather irritated and impatient face.

"YOU BONEHEAD! I ALREADY FORGAVE YOU!"

His brother's image flickered. He became less opaque, but now his soul still glowed strong. His wounds seemed to disappear as his expression turned more confused.

"papyrus!" Sans cried out, fear in his voice.

It didn't seem that Papyrus noticed his fading existence in the Void. Still stumped in the question of the source of his brother's distress, he spoke.

"HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE SAD. I'M HERE, YOU DON'T SEEM HURT… WAS IT THAT GUY ATTACKING YOU? WHAT A MEANIE!"

Sans' grin returned as Papyrus, who had respect and love for everyone and everything, unknowingly started to insult his own father. Had he known, his brother would likely hide away from any and everyone in his room in embarrassment. At least, if his reaction to making his first bad pun was anything to go by…

Papyrus faded once more, and suddenly disappeared. Eye flashing again, Sans stepped up and scanned the Void for a sign of his brother. Dread began to build back up within his system.

"papyrus-"

"NO! DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE DARK!" Despite not even existing, Papyrus still called out to his brother, "THAT'S SILLY! NOW LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!"

"YOU CAN BE LAZY, AND BROODING, AND LAZY… DID I SAY LAZY TWICE? BUT! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! AND YOU ARE MY BROTHER! THAT MEANS YOU TOO ARE GREAT! I BELIEVE YOU ARE!"

Sans felt his SOUL fill up with a pleasant warmth.

"bro…"

"Yeah! I know we aren't the best friends, but I know you can do it!"

Sans knew that voice, "undyne?"

"Do not be afraid," a new voice, motherly in tone, came from the Void. "We all are here, and we believe in you!"

"Tori?"

Another voice, female again, but nervous, spoke, "I k-know it seems impossible, but I know you can win!"

"Alphys!"

"Darling, show them what you've got!"

Even Mettaton was here. Sans had never felt more confident than ever before. All of his father's put downs meant nothing now.

"Sans!" the voice was undeniably Asgore's, "You must be DETERMINED!"

And so he was. A rush of energy unlike any he had ever felt filled Sans. He was, undeniably, filled with DETERMINATION. With confidence, his eyes glowed, staring straight at the forming mass in front of him.

Gaster smiled at Sans, but not with malice. The smile was more akin to interest, the satisfaction of solving a mystery or fixing a problem. Beneath that, it seemed there was… pride?

"Yes…" the Man Who Speaks In Hands rasped, "Perhaps you **do** see."

Sans stepped forward, defiant.

"I see," he declared, "I know what it takes to be a Judge."

His left eye glowed neon blue and golden yellow, filled with power. His left hand aflame, he snapped his fingers, summoning three Gaster Blasters. Filled with righteous rage, Sans yelled, commanding the blasters to fire.

The weapons had no qualms attacking their maker, and from the smile on Gaster's face, neither did he. The magic blasts did far better than Sans' bones, and even Chara's knife, doing longer lasting damage. As Gaster's body began to slowly reform, Sans went on the offensive.

With bones, magic-fire infused punches, and gravity SOUL effects, Sans slowly whittled at Gaster. Gaster didn't seem to mind, only staring at Sans with a growing smile. A gravity beat down sent the scientist back. Sans charged forward, but was caught off guard when Gaster finally retaliated.

Grabbed in with Gaster's SOUL effect, Sans was stuck in place. He flinched for a moment, but quickly recovered and glitched out of the way. Gaster continued, his own left eye alive with purple magic. But each time Sans got trapped in Gaster's SOUL effect, the Judge warped out of the way.

So instead, Gaster stopped playing with SOUL effects. With all his effort, Gaster summoned a swarm of bones and sent them at Sans. The smaller skeleton dodged barely, weaving left and right, before warping past an un-dodge-able wall. It then occurred to him that Gaster was using a final attack. His final attack.

 _Want to use my tricks against me?_ Sans thought, _Alright, that's cool._

He dodged perfectly, predicting his own moves. Surrounded by his blasters, Sans took the easy way out and simply warped out of the circle. He sent a flamed fist at his father, who dodged away, ending his assault.

Sans stood, watching his father cautiously. It only then occurred to him that he had used plenty of energy dodging his attack; his legs were shaking, his stance slightly wobbly. To his relief, he found that his father was not selecting the option to FIGHT. But it wasn't MERCY either. It was ACT, followed by CHECK.

Sans' own soul popped up. Only now it was different: though primarily white, like a normal monster's, the soul had a sheen of all the colors of the rainbow. As the sheen grew closer to the center, some colors faded whilst others grew stronger, more opaque. At the SOUL's core was the color of Sans' eye: aqua for PATIENCE, orange for BRAVERY, and yellow for JUSTICE.

"Now you see, Sans," Gaster said, **"But do you understand your burden?"**

"I do, father," Sans replied, filled with DETERMINATION.

"Oh? **Then show me."**

Gaster charged one last time at Sans. The chosen Judge met the attack head on, his soul radiating a field of power, blocking Gaster's advance like a shield. Gaster's distorted shrieks filled the Void, but Sans pushed on. He felt his past failures crawling down his back, but shrugged it off, the willpower of the Judge within him.

But even it began to fade. The top of Sans' skull suddenly felt more heavy, and sleep beckoned his name. He was exhausted, running on fumes, but still the memory of those he was fighting in him called out to him. A primal urge to defend himself, those he loved, and the whole world surged within him, and with a mighty yell, Sans breathed magic fire.

Gaster was sent back, and consumed by the magic blast. His amalgamate frame decayed in the blast, but on his face was a genuine smile. Sans barely felt tears of joy as he saw his father's face. It was filled with pride and happiness.

Around them, the visions of the timelines closed and the Void grew darker, yet darker. With a final effort, Sans finished the attack, and fell, his vision dark.

"Good luck, my son," Gaster said, **"I'll be in touch."**

* * *

Sans gasped, breathing in the air of Snowdin once more. He looked around, confused and shocked. He slowed his breathing, and observed himself. He found his hand, which was scarred. A circle was cleanly engraved in its palm, still glowing with purple magic. The magic faded, then the scar, then it was as if it was never there. The lingering energy that Sans felt there though was enough proof of what had transpired.

"So, I didn't hallucinate all of that," Sans said to himself.

He stood up, putting his hands in his coat pockets. Had he looked in a mirror, or any reflective surface, he would've seen that his eyes now permanently glowed a calm blue. His grin widened, filled with DETERMINATION.

"I won't fail you, dad."

* * *

 **AN: yaaaaay i finished the exposition chapters.**

 **now i have finals so don't be expecting anything soon**

 **Please do send some reviews, I'd like some feedback on my work (and perhaps ideas and suggestions from you guys?)**

 **Thanks! Bye.**


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